BobtheBA here and the last time I blogged, we briefly took a look back at 2011. The New Year is a time when people make predictions, resolutions, and plans with the hope of change and improvement. It can be a very exciting time with anticipation to see if the predictions come true, resolutions are met, or if the plans were effective. What resolutions and plans have you made for 2012? I have to tell you though, I am not a big fan of New Year resolutions. More on this shortly.
Project Management Posts
A New Year’s Resolution?
Posted: January 23rd, 2012 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
7 Trends in Business Analysis and Project Management to Watch for in 2012
Posted: January 9th, 2012 by ElizabethLarson. Comments »By Elizabeth Larson, PMP, CBAP, CSM and Richard Larson PMP, CBAP
The close of one year tends to make one reflect on what has occurred in the past year and ponder the future. Here we ponder some trends in the Project Management and Business Analysis fields for 2012. Here are our top seven predictions for business analysts (BAs) and project managers (PMs) in 2012.
1. Divergence of the PM and BA Role. In 2009 we predicted that as the economy tightened, organizations would decrease their project budgets and combine the role of PM and BA. For 2012 we believe that organizations will see the need for both roles, particularly on strategic projects, and move away from a combined role. There are several factors for this trend:
Is Your Meeting Worth the Time?
Posted: December 20th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. 2 Comments »
A couple of days ago I fired up my online calendar and started to schedule a meeting with my manager. Our meetings are typically less than 30 minutes long, but I had a lot to talk about, so I was going to make it an hour long. Yessirree. I had a lot of stuff on my mind, I needed an audience, and he was the logical person to hear me out!
Grapevines and Rumor Mills – Assets or Liabilities?
Posted: November 30th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
Communications is, of course, the single biggest indicator of project success or failure. As project managers, we have to think about all aspects of communications, including how much, to whom, in what format, etc. We also get pretty savvy at knowing which communication channels to use.
A lot of project work gets done through informal, undocumented communication channels. This is not only OK, it’s actually necessary. Imagine if every conversation or information gathering effort we conducted required a documented plan. The fact is a lot of good data can be mined from the water cooler and coffee klatch gatherings.
My B.A. Holiday Wish List for You
Posted: November 15th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. 2 Comments »
Hello there – BobtheBA here wishing you fantastic Holidays in advance. Yes, it really is that time of the year again! Where did the time go? Seems like yesterday when 2011 was full of plans, promise and new projects. Now, with less than 7 weeks to go everyone will be busy cramming (whoops – I meant implementing) projects and of course focused on family and friends during the Holiday(s) of your choice. So whatever you are celebrating be it Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanza, New Years, or something else, I thought I would share my B.A. Holiday Wish List for you. Many of you may not know (my students and some of my colleagues do) that I am actually the Santa Claus of Business Analysis. That’s right, I will know if your requirements have been naughty or nice so here are my top 5 things I wish for you during the Holidays (to remain on the nice list of course).
Training for Project Closure
Posted: November 8th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
I ran my first triathlon this past summer. My biggest concern going into the race was how I was going to hold up toward the end. Running is the last of the three events, and the one about which I was least confident. I wondered if I would be able to finish that last mile or if I would simply be so exhausted that I would not make it across the finish line. As it turns out, I was so invigorated by the experience and so excited about completing the race that the closer I got, the easier it actually became as I moved toward the finish line.
Who Owns Project Success or Failure?
Posted: October 18th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
Recently, a project management colleague was expressing frustration with her inability to get a project moving in a constructive direction. She commented that she knew the success of the project was her responsibility, but she felt hamstrung in her ability to get what she needed from people. Even simple requests for information from external stakeholders went unanswered and resulted in project inertia.
I hear this from project managers on a regular basis and it always brings me back to one of the truisms in project management: The project manager is responsible for project success.
Things We Know and Things We Don’t
Posted: September 27th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
On every project there are things we know and things we don’t know – Knowns and Unknowns. Organizing your thoughts around those concepts can be a constructive approach to understanding a project as shown in the matrix.
The Known Knowns you handle via the plan, but what about those various flavors of Unknowns? How do you normally account for those things in the project? Often it’s with padding – estimates that include unidentified amounts of time and/or money just in case.
Hockey Players and Project Managers: Just Trying to Win
Posted: September 6th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. 1 Comment »
My son’s hockey team won their last tournament of the summer season this past weekend. As the athletes came into the lobby from the locker room, everyone cheered, recognizing each individual contribution. Another mom made a comment out loud that many of us hockey parents think just about every time we see them come out of the locker room: “They’re so little!”
It’s truly amazing to see 9-year-olds play hockey at the level that this team plays. They skate on the ice as though they’re dancing on pavement. They handle a stick with astounding skill. They move the puck up and down the ice with agility that sometimes takes my breath away.
Control Projects or People? It’s All in the Details!
Posted: August 17th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
Controlling projects is a good thing. Controlling people is not. What does it mean to control projects, not people, and when have you crossed the threshold from controlling the project to micromanaging the people?
When you start telling people how to do their jobs instead of focusing on the results they create is usually an indication that you have stepped beyond the bounds of project control and into the realm of people control.
Some team members are quite adept at complicating this tidy distinction. What about, for example, the team member who tells you they will get the work done on time but sees no need to share details regarding the steps involved or how they’re going to get it done?
